The present invention generally relates to the field of pyrotechnic initiators, and more particularly to a pyrotechnic initiator having an internal sleeve retaining a pyrotechnic charge.
Pyrotechnic initiators have many uses in industrial and consumer applications. One important use is in triggering the inflation of airbags in motor vehicles. Significant efforts have been made in the automotive industry to reduce the cost of manufacturing reliable airbag initiators. One advance has been the use of liquids and slurries in loading pyrotechnic charges into the initiators. As shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,686,691 to Hamilton et al., it is known to load a slurry charge into a conventionally cup-shaped charge can, and to directly affix such a loaded can onto a header assembly so that the charge comes into contact with the header surface and bridgewire. However, this method poses certain drawbacks and difficulties and limits the available range of slurries since the slurry must be amenable to consolidation. It is believed that hitherto a thin-walled, rigid charge sleeve has not been used to facilitate the loading and durable retention of a pyrotechnic charge in place on the header surface within an initiator.